POV: Eris Adoldia
I could see the future.
More precisely, I could see exactly nine seconds into the future.
I don't think I've ever seen that far before. But let me tell you something about the Foresight Demon Eye: when you can react to any situation in milliseconds like I can, that ability can get pretty confusing.
Very confusing.
Right, the future vision, more or less the way I saw it.
The Technique God had arrived, and even though I couldn't see with my Demon Eye, I knew that Badigadi had probably arrived with him.
Rygar still hadn't managed to kill the false Dragon God.
Even in just nine seconds, it was enough for Rygar to lose his best chance to kill the Labyrinth's Final Boss.
Putting it simply, it was easy to imagine the fight would soon turn into a three-way battle.
Or even worse, the fight could become three against one if the Labyrinth Boss decided to eliminate Rygar first.
What should I do?
Well, that's very simple. I should hold them back and give Rygar the chance to kill the boss.
But how was I supposed to do that?
I'm pretty competent in a fight. Even if they wanted to, it wouldn't be that easy to defeat me because of my speed and my future sight.
But this wasn't a fight. Their target was Rygar, not me. And even worse would be if both of them joined forces against me and killed me first.
Yeah.
That would be terrible.
Even while my mind was processing all of that, I was already running toward the entrance of the Labyrinth.
I didn't even need to think for my body to keep moving forward. It had already decided for me.
Am I an idiot by any chance?
I don't even have a plan yet.
Uh-huh!
Right, I can last in a fight against one of them, but holding both off is impossible. No. Even holding off just one of them will be difficult, that is, if I'm relying only on my own abilities.
Anyway, I started writing a message to Rygar as fast as possible. I only had a few seconds here.
I kept running while thinking about how I would cleverly carry out this mission.
Rygar brought me here for a reason, after all. Maybe not for this exact reason, but hey, you deal with what life throws at you, right?
As I ran at full speed, I was also pushing my Demon Eye to the limit.
Analyzing my plans, would they work? Or not? I'm definitely not very good at this.
What would Verdia do right now? She's pretty clever with this kind of thing...
Hm, and Aisha?
Ah, Aisha would definitely say something annoyingly sensible. Something like: Stop panicking and use what you have. Or maybe: You're overthinking it.
How irritating. She'd probably be right.
Oh!
He appeared! Along with Badigadi!
I saw both of them appear at the entrance of the Labyrinth.
But before the rest could happen, I sent the message to Rygar.
And just kept going.
He definitely trusts me. As long as I hold them for around ten seconds, that should be enough, right?
Ugh, the future and the present are getting mixed up in my head.
I... died?!
My god, I'm going to die, what a horrible plan, who came up with this shit?!
Ah!
It was me!
Change the plan!
Wait, I hadn't even planned that yet!
That was in the future!
Aaaaaah! What a mess!
I'm thinking too much, my head hurts!
My eye is burning! Too many futureeees!
One second I saw the entrance to the floor in the distance. The next, I saw myself already lying there dead.
Then in another, I dodged. In another, I didn't. In another, Laplace drove a spear through my skull.
In another, Rygar was still fighting. In another, the false Dragon God had already escaped.
Visions upon visions.
Possibilities upon possibilities.
And me, in the middle of it all, running like a lunatic without knowing which one of them was actually going to happen.
I'm so exhausted... so tired...
How about... sleeping?
No, stupid Eris, what kind of ridiculous future decision is that, is that really me?!
But it's true, I really am so... tired.
My body was fine, but my mind was sinking.
How long had Rygar and I been crossing this hell? Fighting, running, killing, going down, climbing up, running again, fighting again?
Even so, just as Aisha's teachings say, I kept my face serious and determined. Sometimes that expression of someone who knows what they're doing can save your skin, so always keep it.
So I kept it.
Even without knowing what I was doing.
Even while futures overlapped in my vision, I didn't stop running. I didn't even stop to look and see whether Rygar would come this way.
With my message, he'll definitely kill that thing as fast as possible...!
...right?
Finally, I saw my targets up close.
The entrance to the floor was right there, and they were exactly where they were supposed to be. Badigadi was still putting on his Armor.
I could ambush him right now.
My mind recognized the opportunity instantly. A quick strike while he still wasn't ready.
But as I saw in the near future, that would end with Laplace driving that spear into my forehead and killing me quickly.
Next!
Laplace was looking around, and then he fixed his gaze on Rygar.
Right, yes, that checks out.
If I avoid his strike and clash with Badigadi, he'll ignore me and attack Rygar.
That's bad! Next!
My eye is burning so much, aaaaah, my head feels like it's going to explode!
Visions of death!
Death!
Death!
Death!
Failure!
Failure!
Failure!
I can't fail!
AAAAAHHHHH!
I didn't have time to pull myself together.
Everything had to be done immediately! Right now!
Hm?
A memory?
Ah, right.
Vita, the Slime, had an enemy, didn't he?
Aisha told me that guy hunted him like a dog!
The memory surfaced all at once, clear enough for me to latch onto immediately.
It didn't seem like a good foundation for a plan, but it was something.
Right, let's try this!
OH?!
OOH?! THIS IS PROMISING!
I forced myself to look one more time, searching specifically for that thread of possibility, and this time it was different.
I smiled brightly as I approached two of the greatest fighters in history.
And I was going straight toward both of them.
Without slowing down.
HEY, THIS IS GOING TO MAKE A CRAZY STORY!
Right, I probably look completely insane to them right now!
"MUAHAHAHAHA!"
I laughed out loud, because my plan was still horrible, my enemies were absurd, and even so I was still running straight at them!
My sword was already firm in my hand.
Witness the full potential of Eris, the Mastermind!
----
Vita was rushed and anxious.
The situation in Begaritt was in turmoil, moving in an unpredictable direction. They needed to kill Rygar immediately and go help.
If Orsted appeared and decided to fight, the damage would be catastrophic. If Rygar managed to escape and came back, the damage would be massive.
There was no room for hesitation at that point.
So imagine what he thought when he saw Rygar on the verge of killing the Labyrinth's Final Boss.
His mind accelerated instantly.
Using the full potential of Laplace's body, Vita prepared to move forward.
His eyes locked onto Rygar's distant figure, and he spoke urgently:
"Quick! He's about to succeed, hurry up!"
Meanwhile, Badigadi was still putting on the Fighter God Armor. Even in that situation, the demon laughed as if he were walking into a party.
"Bwahahaha! Things are already lively here!"
That was when Vita saw a red blur.
His gaze snapped toward it in an instant, and he immediately adjusted his spear when he noticed Eris, the Sword God, approaching with a manic, frightening smile.
Her speed was extremely high, but even so, in Vita's mind, that was no real cause for concern.
He possessed the body of the greatest martial artist in the world. Why would he fear a swordswoman of that level?
The only thought that crossed his mind was simple.
Excellent, she's alone. One less obstacle.
He was already preparing to pierce her with his spear, killing her in a single motion, when Eris laughed openly and said something so absurd that it completely shattered the flow of his thoughts.
"MUAHAHAHA! GOLDEN ARMOR DESTRUCTION MODULE, ACTIVATE! PASSWORD, BEELZEBUUUU!"
Laplace froze.
What?
A destruction module?!
For an instant, Vita simply couldn't process it.
No... that was impossible. If the Fighter God Armor really had some kind of self-destruct mechanism, Hitogami would have warned him about it. He would have, right?
No... would he really have?
I mean, it wouldn't be Hitogami's first betrayal. He had that reputation.
And more importantly, why would Eris blurt out that information like that, out loud, in the middle of her charge, if it weren't true? What kind of bluff was that? It made no sense.
Thoughts crashed into each other in Vita's mind in a single instant.
He looked at the Armor.
Looked at Badigadi.
Looked back at Eris.
...What would the explosion of that ridiculous artifact even look like?
There was no way Vita wanted to lose the most valuable body he possessed. The mere possibility of being caught in a self-destruction of the Fighter God Armor while using Laplace's body was unacceptable.
Just to be safe, he decisively moved away.
Meanwhile, Badigadi was just as stunned as he was.
"Eh?"
"EEEEH?!"
"Destruction module?! No! Deny! Deny!"
The enormous demon immediately started trying to wriggle free of the Armor.
But before he could do anything useful, he heard a super excited voice cutting through the chaos of that moment:
"MUAHAHA! Explode, you ugly demon! Crimson Heavenly Rupture!"
Badigadi's vision was covered in red.
A sword light so fast struck him that he only had time to start laughing at the ridiculous trap.
"BWA—"
The blow swept him away instantly.
The crimson light tore through the space between them, swallowing Badigadi's golden figure and exploding in a cutting wave that made the air tremble.
The impact hurled the Fighter God away with tremendous force, scattering blood and destruction across the chain of inverted mountains near the entrance to the floor.
But Laplace's body was fast.
Vita didn't even try to follow Badigadi's trajectory for long. His eyes moved from Eris to Rygar in the distance in an almost imperceptible interval, and he made his decision that very instant.
If Rygar killed the final boss, the results would be unpredictable.
Badigadi could take care of himself.
The important thing was stopping the Beast God.
His draconic wings spread, and Vita was just about to launch himself toward Rygar, completely abandoning Badigadi behind.
But before he could, he heard Eris once again.
"Death God, Laxus! As promised, Vita is all yours! I'll handle the Fighter God!"
At that very instant, a chill ran down Laplace's spine.
It was so sudden that Vita recoiled instinctively. His whole body reacted before his mind could even catch up.
The memories came rushing back at high speed, torn from the depths of his core as if they had never left.
Pursuit, fear, panic, and anguish.
The horrible feeling of being hunted without rest.
He looked around with a fear he had never shown again after taking possession of the Technique God's body.
To confirm his fear even further, Eris ignored him completely.
She simply passed by, heading toward Badigadi.
Where?!
Vita was trembling like never before.
He was trembling, not because he could feel Laxus, but because he couldn't!
Instead of calming him down, that only made him even more terrified.
At that moment, he was not the Nether King. He was not the Fifth Great Power of the World. He was not the monster who had taken over the Technique God's body.
At that moment, he was only the small, young slime who had been hunted to near death hundreds of years ago.
The trauma in his core was so great that the stress, the urgency, and the certainty that Eris would never do something that idiotic kept him from doubting it.
But what contributed the most was that Laxus was the only being Vita deeply feared.
Not being able to sense him only made everything worse.
His gaze shot from side to side, desperately searching for any trace, any presence, anything that would give away the Death God.
But there was nothing.
Then, in that moment, he felt it.
A familiar energy appeared.
From behind a rock.
A very familiar energy...
The energy of Laxus's Bone Ring.
Vita froze completely.
----
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